1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus such as, for example, an ink jet printer.
2. Related Art
Generally, an ink jet printer is widely known as a liquid ejecting apparatus ejecting a liquid on a target. With the ink jet printer, printing is performed by ejecting ink (liquid) toward paper (target) from nozzles on a recording head (liquid ejecting head).
With such a printer, since the moisture of the ink within nozzles evaporates through nozzle openings, the viscosity of the ink within the nozzles tends to increase, blocking the nozzles. The blocking of the nozzles is suppressed by performing, periodically during printing, flushing in which the ink within the nozzles is forcibly discharged into a cap member or performing capping in which the cap member abuts the recording head to surround the nozzles during printing rest and during non-use.
Furthermore, the printer shown in JP-A-8-90782 is known in the related art as a printer including such a cap member. The printer of JP-A-8-90782 includes a carriage (moving body) configured to be movable between the printing area and a side portion of the printing area (standby position). The carriage has a nozzle head (liquid ejecting head) on the lower side, and is supported to be freely slidable and rotatable about a guide shaft supported by a guide frame. The carriage is prevented from falling forward by including a guide roller to be in rolling contact with the lower face of the upper side portion of the guide frame.
Further, a convex portion is provided on the lower face of the upper side portion of the guide frame in the side portion of the printing area. Furthermore, a cap member that can perform capping of the nozzle head is placed in the side portion of the printing area. Furthermore, when the carriage is moved to the side portion of the printing area, due to the guide roller entering the concave portion of the upper side portion of the guide frame, the carriage rotates about the guide shaft due to its own weight and tilts forward. Capping is performed by the nozzle head being closely adhered to the cap member placed directly underneath due to the forward tilt of the carriage.
At this time, by a plate spring-like elastic member (engagement member) attached to a side end portion of the guide frame abutting the upper face of the carriage, the carriage is biased toward the cap member due to the elastic member, and the cap pressure is increased.
Incidentally, in the printer of JP-A-8-90782, in a case where flushing is performed within the cap member during printing, the carriage abuts the elastic member every time the carriage is moved to the side portion of the printing area to perform flushing. Therefore, there is a problem in which ink omission within the nozzles of the nozzle head occurs or the meniscus of the ink within the nozzles is destroyed.